Chapter 1401: The Tree Had No Edge

Auri sat beside Ethan, still staring ahead. Unable to pinpoint the source of the life energy, she finally gave up and looked down, playing with the new branch she had created.

Then she sensed a strange energy beneath the soil.

It felt somewhat similar to Fairy energy, but mixed with something else. Curious, Auri raised her head. Everyone was still discussing what to do, so she quietly slipped outside the shield.

She crouched in the grass and poked one finger into the soil.

The ground split open at once.

A root wrapped around her finger, tightened around her wrist, and yanked her forward.

Auri lost her balance and fell facedown in the grass. The root didn’t stop. It dragged her at high speed toward the wall of vegetation.

"Da—"

The group was sitting in a circle, and Ataneya happened to be directly across from Ethan. She was the first to see Auri being dragged away.

Twenty-four fox tails spread behind her and raced along the ground after Auri. Infernal energy gathered in her palm, forming a blazing fireball that she hurled after the fleeing root.

But the plants moved first.

Mushroom caps drooped toward the ground. Trees shifted their roots, while the grass shot upward under the influence of some unseen force. Countless branches and leaves wove together before them, forming a thick wall that cut Auri off from the group.

Ataneya’s tails slammed into the barrier, leaving only a few dents in its surface.

The Infernal fireball struck a moment later.

Flames spread across the wall as the intense heat sent the surrounding temperature soaring. Yet the plants didn’t burn. They continued growing, forcing the flames away from their surface.

Ethan had already launched the energy sphere in his hand.

The white sphere struck the wall head-on and discharged its energy through the point of impact. Branches and leaves bent backward under the force, but more roots immediately grew into the gaps.

He didn’t wait to see the result.

Ethan pressed another energy sphere into his body and dissolved into countless black particles. They streamed through the narrow spaces between the plants, racing after Auri.

Everyone else attacked at the same time.

Kaelira’s energy sphere merged with Catheryn’s dark power in midair. Andona charged in from the side and struck the combined energy with her golden blade, launching it straight into the plant wall.

Boom!

Purple-red, black, and gold light exploded together.

Seraphina returned to her dragon form.

Flames poured from her mouth and engulfed the branches and leaves ahead. Her massive claws came down next, pounding the same spot again and again. The impacts cracked the ground nearby.

Even after that barrage, the wall remained intact.

Worse, its branches deliberately parted in front of them, revealing a narrow gap large enough to pass through. Whenever someone tried to approach, the opening snapped shut again.

Open.

Closed.

Then open again.

The plants were clearly taunting them.

Seraphina wasn’t about to let that go.

She raised a claw to strike again, but Seraphine noticed something was wrong. She sensed energy gathering high above them and immediately released two different energies from her palms.

A gray shield spread outward from her, enclosing everyone who remained.

"Seraphina, get back here!"

Seraphine looked up at the sky.

"Something’s wrong!"

Seraphina clearly didn’t want to give up so easily.

She turned and flew toward the shield, but before leaving, she swung one last claw at the plant wall and struck it hard.

That final attack left her behind the rest of the group.

Green lights began appearing in the sky.

There were only a few at first, but their numbers rapidly increased. They fell faster and faster, all of them locked onto Seraphina as she flew back.

Seraphine formed a sphere of gray energy and threw it above the dragon.

The sphere exploded high in the air.

Gray energy spread into a curved barrier, blocking the first green lights to fall. The force of the explosion struck Seraphina from behind and pushed her toward the group.

Ataneya’s fox tails reached her in time.

Several tails wrapped around Seraphina and pulled her into the gray shield.

By then, green lights covered the entire sky.

They fell like dense rain, pelting the shield without pause. Each point of light flashed once upon contact, then vanished.

As the green downpour intensified, everyone grew more worried about Auri and Ethan.

This place was far too strange.

The plant wall outside remained completely intact.

During one of its shifts, the branches and leaves accidentally opened a narrow crack. The group looked through it and quickly realized that no green lights were falling beyond the wall.

The rain only covered their position.

This wasn’t a natural phenomenon.

Someone was targeting them.

Ethan remained dispersed as black particles, in no hurry to reveal himself.

He had caught up to Auri and stopped beside her, silently observing their surroundings.

Once the root dragged Auri through the wall, it quickly released her. She rubbed her aching wrist and was about to call for Ethan when the sight before her caught her attention.

The root that had brought her here rose from the ground and extended a thin branch.

The branch pointed around at everything nearby, then at itself. Its tip bobbed up and down proudly.

Its meaning was perfectly clear.

It had done all of this.

Impressive, right?

Auri looked around.

Massive tree trunks surrounded her, each one far larger than any ordinary tree. She couldn’t see where they ended overhead. Blue-green lights floated among the branches and leaves, glowing softly as they drifted like fireflies.

The sight did amaze her.

But right now, Auri wanted to get back to her daddy more than she wanted to admire the scenery.

Still rubbing her wrist, she looked at the branch.

"Can you take me back?"

Her eyes shifted as she added, "You’re so amazing, so of course you can, right?"

The branch went still.

It seemed not to have expected that request. After a moment, however, it began bobbing up and down, indicating that it could indeed do that.

It turned and moved forward on its own.

Auri followed.

Still dispersed into black particles, Ethan silently stayed beside her. The energy in his hand was ready. The instant any danger appeared, he would send the sphere straight at it, followed by lightning from above.

The journey was longer than expected.

After walking for a long time, Auri’s legs began to ache. She stopped and wove a green chair out of Fairy power, then flopped back onto it.

The chair didn’t remain in place.

Thin branches extended from beneath it, carrying Auri along behind the root.

It wasn’t long before she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Hidden beside her, Ethan felt exhausted just watching her.

They had no idea how many enemies might be hiding in this place. How could she sleep so peacefully?

Before he could finish complaining to himself, they reached the end of the path.

A colossal tree beyond anything Ethan had ever imagined stood before them.

Its trunk was so wide that neither edge was visible. Deep furrows covered its surface like vast ravines, while its branches pierced the blue-green haze and stretched even higher.

The little branch guiding them darted into the base of the enormous tree and disappeared.